The company and the fashion brand THE HOFF BRAND dedicated to the world of sneakers received this Tuesday the SME Awards of the year 2024 of the province of Alicante, an award given by Banco Santander and the Alicante Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber and the newspaper Información.
Fran MarchenaCEO and Founder of THE HOFF BRAND, was in charge of collecting the award, during an event which took place this morning at the Bibliothèque de la Brand (Archaeological Museum of Alicante) in the presence of the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Alicante, Carlos Banoand the commercial director of Banco Santander Companies, Carlos Jesus Mendoza.
THE HOFF BRAND is a SME that has been growing in the sneaker world for 7 years. Their core belief is to ignite the creative spark in every individual. With a passion for discovering untapped talents, encouraging self-expression and celebrating the essence of art, becoming more than a fashion brand, a canvas for creative souls to express themselves. Its growth has been exponential in these seven years:
• turnover of €5 million to €55 million.
• from 1 own store to 25 own stores plus 18 El Corte Inglés corners.
• From 20 to 260 employees.
• Presence in more than 50 countries, with central offices in Elche and Alicante.
He jurycomposed of the president of the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Baño; César Álvarez González, representing Banco Santander; Toni Pérez, president of the Alicante Provincial Council; Ángel Angulo for the editorial staff of Prensa Alicantina; Pablo de Gracia Pérez, as president of the Alcoy Chamber of Commerce; and Andrés Pereda, director of business development at Cámara España, particularly appreciated THE HOFF BRAND’s contribution to job creation as a merit for winning this award.
In addition, four finalist in the categories Internationalization; Innovation and digitalization; Training and employment; and Sustainable SMEs.
Those awarded and recognized by the second prizes of the Alicante SME Award 2024
The Company was awarded the Internationalisation Access PLYMAGspecialized in the manufacture of biostimulants and biological products, which provide specific solutions to current agricultural needs. They are the only ones in Spain to have their own algae extraction plant.
The Second Prize for Innovation and Digitalization was awarded to PCEX SUPPLY INDUSTRIESa leading company in the distribution of original automotive spare parts, with a solid internationalization strategy, ratified by the Alicante Chamber of Commerce with the Internationalization Award in 2022. Currently, it is present in 38 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, exceeding 40 million euros in turnover in 2023. Its digitalization has been recognized by prestigious professional organizations. Likewise, we are promoters of projects focused on sustainability such as TERA Batteries Recycling.
Access to Training and Employment has been granted to gALINVENTOR DEVELOPMENT GROUPa technology company from Alicante, specialized in the development and implementation of digital solutions. Spread throughout the national territory, they work for large multinationals on AI, IoT, Data, Metaverse, Industry 4.0 and Mobility projects. It is a leading company in innovative solutions, which has experienced very significant organic growth in 6 years, without the need for external financing, being an example of job creation, 170 peoplewith very low turnover and year-on-year turnover growth of 30% since its inception 7 years ago.
And finally, the Second Prize for Sustainable SMEs in the province of Alicante was awarded to two companies. EL PLANTIO GOLF RESORT And SERIPAFER. Seripafer is a graphic industry located in Alcoy since 1987. Composed of a qualified professional team, it has 37 years old working on innovation, to cover all the processes of creation and production of 3 trades: sustainable packaging, advertising elements for points of sale (POS) and ecological merchandising. They export their products. El PLANTÍO is a company that currently operates two sports hotel tourist complexes “El Plantío Golf Resort” and “Alicante Golf”. Since 1990, the construction of the El Plantío Golf Resort complex began, based on arid rural properties, without any type of economic or social use. In 2000 the golf courses were inaugurated and in 2009
inaugurates the hotel complex. It currently occupies an area of 700,000 square meters of tourist, sports and hotel complex, consuming regenerated water from the WWTPs. The complex has been declared of community interest by the entire government of the Generalitat Valenciana.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Baño, stressed that SMEs “represent 99.9% of the productive fabric of the province of Alicante. Our mission is therefore to be at their side and to be that useful tool that allows them to prosper through five programs that we manage and that are exclusively aimed at them: Pyme Digital, Acelera Pyme, Pyme Sostenible, Pyme innova and Pyme Cibersegura. Baño said: “It is the SMEs that generate wealth and employment, at the Alicante Chamber of Commerce we know this well, because thanks to our programs we are in permanent contact with them that are truly unique and exemplary.”
National Award
THE HOFF BRAND will compete for the national SME of the Year 2024 award, which will be chosen among the winners from each province. The name will be known in the first months of 2025, at a major event to be held in Madrid.
Likewise, the winners of the Accésits will also attend the national final in their respective categories, where the companies that have distinguished themselves by their internationalization actions, their Training and Employment or Innovation and Digitalization policies and those that have most implemented sustainability measures will be chosen.
In this new edition, the eighth of this Prize, 1,577 companies from all productive sectors participated.
He Santander Bank and the Camera of trade Spain created the SME of the Year Award in 2017 to recognize the performance and work of small and medium-sized enterprises as creators of jobs and wealth. In addition, it aims to give visibility to the daily efforts of businessmen who contribute through their efforts to the economic development of the territory. The award is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover of less than 50 million euros.
10,753 SMEs participants since the creation of the Prize
With this eighth edition, the SME of the Year Award is consolidated as the benchmark award for Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises. Last year, in the seventh edition of the Award, a total of 1,740 companies from 50 provinces and 52 territorial Chambers of Commerce, 13 Territorial Directorates of Banco Santander and the main newspapers of the Spanish press participated.
Since 2017, the year it was launched, 10,753 SMEs have already taken part in this competition.
